Adler may face further charges

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The federal regulator is considering whether to recommend new
charges against jailed HIH director Rodney Adler for allegedly
attempting to continue carrying out business activities behind
bars.

The 46-year-old failed businessman was today transferred to a
higher-security prison and placed under strict watch after he was
allegedly found attempting to restart his business from prison.

He was jailed in April this year and sentenced to a minimum
two-and-a-half years for his part in the collapse of insurer HIH,
and was banned for 20 years from being a corporate director.

The Corrective Services Senior Assistant-Commissioner, Ian
McLean, said Adler had been under the watch of prison officers for
about a week, and was allegedly abusing his visiting privileges to
conduct the alleged activities.

"At one stage he had carried out these activities in the
visitors' section while pretending to help his children with
homework," Mr McLean said.

Adler now faces an Australian Securities and Investments
Commission (ASIC) investigation, and could face further charges if
the regulator sees fit, NSW Justice Minister John Hatzistergos said
today.

"It's a matter for [federal authorities] but certainly there are
court orders that preclude involvement in corporate activity, and
it's a matter for those authorities to assess whether those orders
have been breached or not," Mr Hatzistergos said.

Mr Hatzistergos would not comment on whether Adler could spend
longer behind bars as a result of the incident.

But he said it would have some impact on the government's
consideration of his parole as a federal prisoner.

"The issue of parole is entirely for the federal government," Mr
Hatzistergos said.